EDITORIAL - Another casualty

Apart from the unfortunate Canadian tourist John Ridsdel, there is another casualty of the latest Abu Sayyaf atrocity: Philippine tourism, and the livelihoods that depend on the travel industry. The resort island of Samal in Davao del Norte, whose principal industry is tourism, is taking a direct hit.

Britain and the United States have issued advisories, informing their citizens about travel risks in the Philippines. As of yesterday, the UK advised against all travel to southwestern Mindanao and Sulu “because of ongoing terrorist activity” and clashes between the military and insurgent groups, and “against all but essential travel to the remainder of Mindanao.”

The US also warned its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Sulu and to exercise “extreme caution” when traveling to Mindanao “due to continued terrorist threat, insurgent activities and kidnappings.”

Yesterday the Department of Foreign Affairs urged the two countries to present a balanced and objective assessment of the security situation in Mindanao. President Aquino, for his part, promised to dramatically reduce the capability of the Abu Sayyaf for mayhem before he ends his term.

The government will have to do more to reassure the world that the Abu Sayyaf threat can be contained. Samal Island particularly needs assistance. It took Palawan about two years to recover after the Abu Sayyaf raided an island resort in 2001. Local residents took an active role in securing their province as a marketing campaign was launched to woo travelers.

The government may want to consider Jakarta’s response after the Indonesian resort island of Bali suffered bomb attacks in 2002 and 2005. Jakarta launched a major marketing blitz to bring back tourists. At the same time, the government hunted down those who planned and carried out the attacks.

The three bombers have been executed. Three others were killed in encounters with police, four are serving life terms, two are detained while another, Jemaah Islamiyah’s operations chief Hambali, is reportedly in Guantanamo. Their spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, was sentenced to 15 years for inciting to terrorism and another two and a half years for conspiracy in the 2002 Bali bombing. He was freed in 2006.

This is the kind of decisive response that can put Samal Island and the rest of Mindanao back on the travel map.